Assignment 4

I live in Lockport, so I normally check out the Lockport Union Sun and Journal from time to time. Mainly I like to read the electronic version, but there are times where I will pick up a paper edition.
For this assignment however, I did take a look at both the electronic and paper issue for Thursday February 7th.
The content that I noticed that was similar to both, were the sections of the editions. As we all know, the paper is divided into the local news, obituaries, classifieds, etc. The same information that is included into the paper edition can be found in the electronic issue. For example, a few months ago my boyfriend and I were looking for a new place to live. We were undecided if we wanted to rent an apartment or house, so we were keeping our options open. The paper edition was very helpful because apartments for rent and houses for rent were each listed under their own categories. However, it was starting to become a hassle because I was stopping at the store every few days to get a newspaper. I then learned that there was a paper edition and I have used it mainly ever since. It had the same information that was available in the paper edition and was easily assessable. The information was also categorized like the paper edition, so it was easy to find what I needed.
One of the main differences that I noticed between the online edition and the paper issue was that the paper edition only includes articles and information for that day and with the online edition you are able to back into the archives of previous editions. For example, you can find an article that was written months ago, find an obituary of a friend or family member that passed and you were not able to get the paper that day, past police reports, anything that was previously printed in the paper.
Another thing that I noticed was that the electronic issue takes advantage of the resources that are available on the internet. The internet allows more creativity in regards to animation. For example, there was an animated advertisement for Gambino Ford and several other car deal dealers. I believe that this makes the advertisement more attractive to the reader. Thee paper edition is more limited when it comes to advertisements because they are just a flat picture. The electronic issue also included a slideshow that you could watch including pictures from Ash Wednesday and other events that had occurred.
The one thing that I also found that created a big difference between the electronic edition and the paper issue was that the electronic edition allows the reader to comment on the articles that are written. I have visited the site so many times and was unaware that this feature was there. It is a wonderful feature because it allows the public to voice their opinions about issues publicly.
I believe that these things appear in the electronic edition and not the paper issue, simply because they cannot be. However, there were other differences that I noticed that I think were mainly added onto the online edition and not the paper issue for a particular reason. For example, there were articles for Monster and Travelocity on the site and these were not included into the paper edition. I think that this is due to the fact that these are websites and the best way to advertise is to advertise to people who are already on the web.
The other main advertisers were the dealerships and I believe that they advertise in both editions because they are getting a wider range of audience.